‘Central bank to use British recipe to boost economy’

The Hungarian National Bank (MNB) announced on April 4 a series of measures to facilitate lending to small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs), and reduce the Hungarian economy’s exposure to foreign currency.
Inspired by the Funding for Lending Scheme launched by the British government last summer, the MNB will give banks access to a fund of 250bn forints (approximately €831m) to enable them to offer interest free loans to SMEs. A second fund of 250bn forints has been established to enable SMEs to convert foreign currency debts into forints.
At the same time, the MNB plans to sell short-term bonds in an effort to reduce its foreign currency holdings by €3bn.